TAIPEI: Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te vowed on Thursday to defend the democratic island´s sovereignty in a New Year´s speech, after China carried out military drills.
Beijing launched missiles and deployed dozens of fighter jets, navy ships and coastguard vessels this week to encircle Taiwan´s main island, in exercises condemned by Taipei as “highly provocative”.
“My stance has always been clear: to steadfastly defend national sovereignty, strengthen national defence and whole-of-society resilience, comprehensively establish effective deterrence capabilities, and build robust democratic defence mechanisms,” Lai said in a televised address from the Presidential Office.
China´s show of force follows a bumper round of arms sales to Taipei by the United States, Taiwan´s main security backer, and comments from Japan´s prime minister that the use of force against Taiwan could warrant a military response from Tokyo.
Lai said international support for Taiwan “has never wavered”, which signalled that “Taiwan is no longer just Taiwan”.“We are not only indispensable, we are also a trustworthy, responsible force for good in the international community,” Lai said.But Lai warned that opposition delays in passing the government´s annual budget and an additional $40 billion defence spending bill could lead to questions about “Taiwan´s resolve” to defend itself.
“In the face of China´s grave military ambitions, Taiwan has no time to wait, nor any time for internal strife,” Lai said.“We may hold differing views on many issues, but without a resilient national defence, there will be no nation, nor any space for debate.”
Beijing responded to the speech on Thursday, saying it contained “lies”, state news agency Xinhua reported.“Lai Ching-te´s speech was filled with lies and nonsense, hostility and malice”, said Beijing´s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua, Xinhua reported.
Taiwan has responded to the growing pressure by increasing defence spending on smaller and more nimble weaponry to enable its military to wage asymmetric warfare against more powerful Chinese forces.Chinese war games around Taiwan “unnecessarily” spiked tensions in the region, the US State Department said Thursday, calling on Beijing to “cease its military pressure.”
“China´s military activities and rhetoric toward Taiwan and others in the region increase tensions unnecessarily. We urge Beijing to exercise restraint, cease its military pressure against Taiwan, and instead engage in meaningful dialogue,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday he was not concerned about China´s live-fire drills, appearing to brush aside the possibility of counterpart Xi Jinping ordering an invasion.
